I’Akobi Maloney died in the custody of Barbados police officers on June 17, 2008 when he fell to his death over a 50 foot cliff and into the sea at Cove Bay, St. Lucy. The police say he broke free and jumped willingly to his death.

Here are some of the concerns:

– The failure of police to obtain timely and individual statements from the officers present at I’Akobi’s death. statements were not obtained for two weeks, and then they were almost word for word copies — showing that the officers discussed and agreed to give a common version of the incident rather than their own true recollections as to what happened. Their statements contained even the same grammatical errors.

– The resistance of the police to allowing the family to have an independent doctor present at the postmortem.

– The failure of Assistant Police Superintendent Curvant Harvey to conduct scientific forensic tests on the police officers firearms and other equipment and clothes worn by them that day.

– The failure of police to properly photograph and document the death scene until August 6, 2008 — almost 2 months after the incident.

– The failure of police officers at the scene on the day of the death to make investigative notes, or to take photos and videos of the area and the sea state.

– Releasing evidence (I’Akoi’s shoulder bag) prior to any inquest.

– Claiming that I’Akobi was wearing his shoulder bag when he jumped into the sea, when it was obvious the bag had never been into the sea.

It would be an excellent idea for a large number of people to attend the inquest. This way the public will have a better idea if this matter should be taken further, or if the police explanation is credible. Here is an earlier post I wrote on the RBPF: Barbados Cop Waits 3 Years to be Cleared in Fatal Shooting

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